ESPN Dream Job Disappoints

A story about how working at ESPN, Ariel Helwani's dream job, didn't live up to expectations.

"I always wanted to work at ESPN - that was the end goal. As a young kid on vacation in the United States with my family, my brothers and I would watch SportsCenter on loop in the hotel. I was taken by the magic of sports television, the characters, and the highlights.

When I got there, right off the bat I was disappointed. The first few months at ESPN were very hard because I had this vision of what it would be like - the resources, the commitment to excellent content and coverage, attention to detail - it just wasn't what I expected.

I knew early on I wasn't going to be a 25-year lifer. I went from doing a show in a beautiful studio that I helped design in New York City to a very small studio with fewer resources. Then I had to drive to Bristol, Connecticut twice a week - 4 hours back and forth Mondays and Wednesdays. I'm doing shows that are 3-4 hours long, mentally tired, then having to drive 2 hours back, often in pitch-black winter conditions.

I tried to check off as many boxes as possible while I was there - hosting a radio show, doing an E60 profile on Daniel Cormier, NBA sidelines, Outside the Lines, SportsCenter. But I came to the conclusion last summer that it wasn't making me happy. I actually had to talk to a therapist about leaving because I felt like a failure leaving after 3 years since this was supposed to be my dream, my mountaintop. But I was very unhappy and realized I had to go back to that entrepreneurial spirit and start building out my own things."